Twitter considers 10 000-character feature

TWITTER Inc is building a new feature that will allow users to post tweets as long as 10 000 characters, well beyond its current 140-character limit, technology news website Re/code reported on Tuesday.

An expansion of the limit to 10 000 characters would allow a tweet of more than 1 000 words with spaces between words and punctuation. Twitter may launch the service towards the end of the first quarter but had not set an official date, Re/code said, citing sources familiar with the plans. They said the character limit could change before the final version is unveiled.

Company co-founder Jack Dorsey, who returned as chief executive in October, in a series of tweets did not say whether Twitter would expand the limit. But he did call it “a beautiful constraint”. He said the company had seen more people sharing screenshots of text, which was a way to get around the 140-character limit. “We’re not going to be shy about building more utility and power into Twitter for people,” Dorsey wrote in a screenshot of text that was longer than 140 characters. “As long as it’s consistent with what people want to do, we will explore it.”